Redskins offensive tackle Trent Williams is denying that he struck down a potential trade to the Vikings because he didn’t want to play in Minnesota, he told ESPN on Saturday.

“No, that’s not true,” Williams said.

However, sources confirmed to ESPN that the potential trade partners were informed at some point Friday that Williams did not want to play for the Vikings, as was first reported by NFL Network.

A source told ESPN that the Vikings had been among the preferred destinations for Williams and that the teams had discussed a deal for more than a month. But they did not come close to anything until Friday morning, when Minnesota increased its offer to include a second Day 3 draft pick, sources said. The Vikings had previously offered one pick on the third day.

Minnesota ended up selecting an offensive tackle, Ezra Cleveland, in the second round of the draft.

With six teams drafting tackles in the first round Thursday, it’s uncertain what teams will want to trade for Williams. The San Francisco 49ers had expressed interest, but there was no deal imminent, and sources said plenty of work remains. The 49ers likely will wait to know whether starting left tackle Joe Staley is retiring before making a move. The 49ers would also have to create more salary-cap space. If the 49ers want to acquire Williams, they would likely have to offer picks in the 2021 draft because they only have picks in the last three rounds Saturday.

Other teams, such as the Los Angeles Rams, might have interest, but lack the cap space to pull off a deal. Both the Rams (Sean McVay) and 49ers (Kyle Shanahan) have head coaches who worked with Williams in Washington.

The Redskins have maintained they don’t feel they need to trade Williams this weekend if they don’t like the offers.

The Minnesota Vikings could use some help at the wide out spot after the team moved Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills earlier this offseason.

With the draft just over a week away, rumors will be hot and heavy, and one this morning involved the Vikings and reports of a chat with the Cleveland Browns over receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who would fit the Vikings like a glove.

The rumor about Odell to the Vikings comes from midday New York radio host Marc Malusis. He is a co-host of the show “Moose and Maggie” 10a to 2p on WFAN 660.

Here’s the tweet that he posted on Wednesday:

So, as I reported this morning on @MandMWFAN, Source has told me that the Browns and Vikings are in discussions on a trade that would send @obj to the Vikings for a 2nd and 5th round pick next year. Trade is not done, but the deal is being discussed.

Amid uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins remains hopeful that he’ll be playing football games this fall.

While the NFL has pressed forward with plans to start the season as scheduled, Cousins noted Tuesday that he believes there are “creative and unique ways” to make certain that games take place, Courtney Cronin of ESPN reports.

Does that mean playing in empty stadiums without fans? Although the Vikings QB said he hasn’t given thought to that scenario, the possibility of games having an altered look and feel might not be the most foreign outcome for NFL players.

“Honestly, we practice every day in an empty grass area and pump in fake crowd noise for away games,” Cousins said on a conference call. “But more often than not, you’re used to it. OTA practices don’t have a lot of pomp and circumstance to them.

“So honestly, to go out and just play the game would kind of be refreshing, a breath of fresh air, to just let us know that we don’t have to have all the smoke and the fire. We can just play football. So as long as we’re playing the game, I won’t have a lot of complaints, and hopefully if it’s still not returned to normal, we can find a way to make it work.”

After a smooth first year as an offensive adviser for the Vikings, Gary Kubiak was presented with the opportunity to rediscover his play-calling acumen, the Associated Press reports.

When offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski climbed the ladder for the top job in Cleveland, Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer sought to maintain as much continuity as possible after a solid season by quarterback Kirk Cousins and the rest of the offense. Kubiak had no interest in being a head coach again, but offensive coordinator? Well, that sure was intriguing.

“I just said, ‘Coach, mind if I go back home and mow some grass for a couple days or something and think about it?’” Kubiak recalled.

He only needed a day and a half. He was more than ready to accept the position.

“I never lost the joy,” Kubiak said.

The offensive adviser job, which included the title of assistant head coach, was created a year ago for Kubiak after the interest in working with Zimmer turned out to be mutual. Working with Stefanski on the playbook and game-planning was just the spark he was hoping for, after spending the previous two seasons away from the sideline as a personnel adviser for Denver.

Kubiak’s eight-year run as head coach of the Houston Texans and two-season stint as head coach of the Broncos were both shortened by health trouble. This will be his 13th year as an offensive coordinator in the NFL.

“He’s got a great way about him. He’s very down to earth. He’s got a lot of skins on the wall, so the players really respect him,” Zimmer said.

The 2019 NFL season is officially over, having come to an end after the Kansas City Chiefs toppled the San Francisco 49ers 31-20 in Super Bowl 54 in Miami.

Now every team in the league can start to turn the calendar as a new year in the NFL will quickly begin, with it already starting for most.

Most teams in the league are already turning their attention to one of the biggest events of the year – the NFL Draft.

You can do Online NFL betting on the NFL draft, as far as what players are going to go to what team once clubs turn in their picks at the annual event.

This year the NFL Draft will take place in Paradise, Nevada and will be held on Thursday April 23rd to Saturday April 25th.

Two networks take over the event, with both ESPN and the NFL Network in charge of the coverage.

The Vikings are looking up at well over the half of the teams in the league before they pick, as Minnesota will draft 25th overall after going 10-6 and making it to the NFC Divisional Round before losing to the eventual NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers.

When you look at the sportsbooks at how many wins are being predicted for the Vikings already next season, Betonline has the Vikings winning 9.5 games this season. They had the Vikings winning nine games prior to the 2019 campaign.

When it comes to the draft, the Vikings will be picking before the team they defeated in the wild card game, that being the New Orleans Saints, who with a mark of 13-3 will pick 24th in the draft.

So what do the experts say about the Vikings in terms of who they will take in the 2020 NFL Draft?

ESPN says that it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team take a cornerback, as the team will have two of their corners entering free agency – Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander.

The Vikings announced a handful of changes to their coaching staff, Courtney Cronin of ESPN reports.

Adam Zimmer, coach Mike Zimmer’s son, and Andre Patterson were named co-defensive coordinators Monday and will take over the position held by George Edwards for the past six seasons. Edwards’ contract expired at the end of the season and he was hired by the Dallas Cowboys as a senior defensive assistant last week.

Additionally, Minnesota officially announced Gary Kubiak as its next offensive coordinator after he served as the team’s assistant head coach/offensive adviser upon being hired last season. The change was made last week following the departure of Kevin Stefanski for the Browns’ head-coaching vacancy.

The Vikings reshuffled other parts of the coaching staff, promoting Andrew Janocko to wide receivers coach and hiring Daronte Jones from Cincinnati as the defensive backs coach and Phil Rauscher from Washington as the assistant offensive line coach. Janocko had served in that role since 2017.